The Trump administration will impose additional tariffs on European products, three weeks before the presidential transition, saying that the European Union has levied too many taxes on American products in the context of the dispute between Boeing and Airbus.
This new offensive targets French and German products, aeronautical spare parts, non-sparkling wines and cognacs, which will be subject to higher customs duties to cross the Atlantic, according to a statement released Wednesday evening by the US Trade Representative ( USTR), which however does not specify their amount or when they will apply.
These taxes will be in addition to those already imposed since 2019 on European imports such as wine, cheese, olive oil or whiskey, as well as on Airbus planes.
The United States denounces an unfair situation
Washington had been authorized to do so by the World Trade Organization (WTO).
And in October, the institution also authorized the EU to apply additional customs duties on products imported from the United States.
This is what displeases the United States, which considers that the perimeter chosen by the EU to calculate these punitive taxes leads to too high an amount levied on American products, and considers the situation unfair.
In question, on the one hand the reference period, on the other hand, the geographical scope.
Thus, "to implement its tariffs, the EU used trade data from a period during which trade volumes had been considerably reduced due to the terrible effects on the global economy of Covid-19", denounces the USTR.
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“The result of this choice was that Europe imposed tariffs on many more products than what would have been covered if it had used a normal period.
Although the United States explained to the EU the distorting effect of the chosen period, the EU refused to change its approach, ”the statement added.
The United States thus announced "to change their reference period to align with that used by the European Union".
The longest trade dispute dealt with by the WTO
Moreover, deplores Washington, "the EU has made another choice which has unfairly increased the amount" of customs duties levied, by excluding the United Kingdom from its calculation, and considers that "the EU must take measures to compensate for this injustice ”.
The European aircraft manufacturer Airbus and its American competitor Boeing, and through them the European Union and the United States, have been clashing since October 2004 before the WTO over the public aid paid to the two groups, deemed illegal.
It is the longest and most complicated trade dispute dealt with by the WTO.
The United States was authorized in October 2019 to impose taxes on nearly 7.5 billion dollars (6.8 billion euros) of European goods and services imported each year, the heaviest sanction ever imposed by the 'WTO.
Washington has since imposed certain products imported from the European Union up to 25%, 15% for Airbus planes.
In retaliation, the EU has imposed tariffs on US $ 4 billion of US exports since the beginning of November.
Boeing planes are taxed at 15%, agricultural products (tobacco, sweet potatoes, wheat, fruits, etc.), agrifood products (hard liquor, chocolate, etc.), or manufactured products (tractors, excavators, bicycle parts, etc.) are taxed at 25 %.
The Franco-American truce expires on January 6
Another conflict, that of the French tax on digital giants, has been superimposed on this one, leaving for more than a year the threat of 100% customs duties on certain French products, such as cheeses, beauty products or handbags.
France confirmed in November that it would levy its tax on Gafa (Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple) in 2020, exposing itself to Washington carrying out its threat, which concerns $ 1.3 billion of French products.
The Franco-American truce concluded in January 2020, which provided for France to suspend its levy and the United States to abstain from sanctions, expires on January 6.
